Header barge or rack



H. ALBERT HEADER BARGE 0R RACK Aug. 25, 1925.

Filed July 2, 1923 2 Sheets-@1001 l uvvszvron 17- l Jeri 55w ATTORNEY.

Aug. 25, 192s.-v

V H. ALBERT HEADER BARGE OR RACK Filed'zJglly 2, 3 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR. bl flilarf t 1 ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 25, 1925.

UNITED STATES HENRY ALBERT, OF HO'XIE, KANSAS.

HEADER BARGE OB RACK.

Application filed July 2, 1923. Serial N-o. 649,182.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY ALBERT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hoxie, in the county of Sheridan and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Header Barges or Racks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to racks for holding hay, straw and other like materials, and particularly to hay racks or barges such as are used with headers, though the invention is not limited to this particular use.

In the ordinary hay rack or barge, one side of the hay rack or barge is fixed or stationary and this makes it awkward to discharge the hay or other materials therefrom.

The general object of this invention is to so construct the barge or hay rack that the barge or rack is loaded more easily than it otherwise would be and more easily unload ed and particularly when the stack is below or even with the top of the barge.

A further object is to provide a construction of this character which makes it possible to haul from 50% to 75% bigger loads than on an ordinary barge or header rack, thus saving time in changing barges or harvesters.

A still further object is to provide means for bridging the gap between the stack and the barge and thus preventing hay or wheat from falling on the ground.

Another object is to provide a construction of this character which will brace the front end of the rack.

Still another object is to provide a device of this character wherein one side of the barge or rack is formed of a panel which in normal position is raised but which may be lowered to permit the ready unloading of the barge.

A further object is to provide improved means for holding this panel raised, which means will permit the ready lowering of the anel.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character wherein one side of the barge or rack is formed by a movable wall, this wall being supported on a sup porting frame pivoted upon the body of the rack and being urged to its raised position by means of springs or other equivalent means.

Still a further object is to provide means for locking this frame in its raised position or adjusted at any desired height.

Other objects have to do with the details of construction and arrangement of parts as will appear more fully hereinafter.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is an end elevation of a barge or hay rack constructed in accordance with my invention but showing in dotted lines the conveyor of the harvester;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of the frame of the barge or rack, showing the beam 21 and the apron in elevation;

Figure 8 is a section on the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a top plan view;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevation partly in section, showing one manner of holding my attachment in place;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, showing a construction of my device when wooden panels are used in place of canvas panels;

Figure 8 is a like view to Figure 7 but showing the position of the parts when the wooden panel is fully lowered;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of one of the hinge members 37 Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that the body of the rack or barge is constructed in the usual manner and consists of a floor 10, the uprights 11, and the uprights 12. The uprights 11 and 12 are connected at their upper ends and at the ends of the frame by means of upwardly and transversely extending beams 13. The upright 11 and the transversely extending floor beams 10 are engaged by an inclined brace 14. This frame is intended to be supported upon a wagon bolster A, for instance, though it will be understood that any other suitable support might be used for the purpose. The uprights 12 at their upper ends are cut out or recessed upon their outer faces, as at 15.

Pivoted to the braces 14 or in any other suitable position are supporting means 16 which normally extend upward and outward to the front of the barge, these beams at their lower ends being longitudinally slotted at 17 to receive bolts 18 which pass through the braces 14 and pass through the slotted ends of the beams 16. The ends of the beams are held closed by bolts 19. This construction permits the beams 16 to be shifted upwardly and laterally the length of the slot 17 I do not wish to be limited to any particular form of bolt for this purpose, but I have illustrated in Figure 4 a bolt 18 which is threaded at its ends. The middle of this bolt is formed with an annular flange 20 so that the beam 16 is separated from the brace 11 by means of this annular flange 20, thus preventing any frictional engagement between the beam 16 and the brace let and permitting the free movement of the beams 16. The beams 16 are connected by a transverse beam 21 which is adapted to rest in the cut-away portion 15 of the uprights 12 when the beam 16 is raised. This beam 21 has brackets or braces 14 attached thereto, and mounted upon these brackets or braces is the downwardly extending apron 23 which may be formed of any suitable material such, for instance, as a board attached to the yoke 22 and extending longitudinally of the barge.

In one form of my invention there is attached to the board 21 a panel 2 1 of canvas or like flexible material which is attached at its lower end to the sills 10 or to any other suitable part and extends longitudinally along the entire rack or barge. hen the beams 16 are shifted longitudinally so that the bolts 18 are carried to the lower ends of the slots 17 and against the bolts 19, the beams 16 and the longitudinal beam 21 with the apron 23 are lowered to the position shown in Figure 1 in dotted lines.

In order to assist in raising the beam 16 with the beam 21 and the apron 23, I may provide springs 25. These springs are preferably bolted or otherwise attached at their lower ends to the upwardly inclined beams 16 and at their upper ends are adjustably connected to the beams 13. Thus, for instance, I have shown an eye-bolt 26 adapted to extend through any one of a plurality of openings 27 in each beam 13 to which the upper ends of the springs may be connected so as to adjust the force with which the beams 26 are drawn upward. I do not wish to be limited to springs, as weights might be used in place of the springs.

For the purpose of holding the beams 16 in their raised position and preventing any accidental dislodgment of the beam 21 from the seat 15, I may mount upon the outer faces of the beams 16 the angular metallic bracket 27. The horizontal flange of this bracket has aligned openings for the passage of a locking pin 28. The body of the bracket has an opening 29 through which passes a locking pin 30, this locking pin having an eye 31 in its outer end. This locking pin 30 is adapted to pass through the beam 16 and also into the beam 12 and then be locked in place by the pin 28 passing through the eye 31. The pin 28 is attached to the beam 16 by means of a chain 32 and the pin 30 is also attached to the beam 16 by means of a chain 33. I do not wish to be limited, however, to this means of locking the beams 16 in their raised position with the member 21 on the seat 15 and I have illustrated in Figure 6 means for locking the beam 21 against upward movement when on its seat comprising a chain 3% which is attached at its upper end to a bolt 35 disposed through the longitudinal beam 21.

This chain is adapted to have any one of 3 its links engaged with a hook 36 attached to the frame of the rack in any suitable manner. This means makes it easy for the stacker or one man loading forage from a field to quickly fasten the frame formed of the beams 16 and 21 down or allow it to be raised to any height desired.

The coiled springs 25 make lifting easy and the springs when they are disposed as in Figure 1 should be contractile springs, but compression springs may be used to force the beams 16 upward instead of lifting them up. These springs prevent the frame from binding as one end might tend to go down before the other unless these springs were used.

In Figure 7, I have illustrated a slightly modified form of my invention, wherein in place of the canvas panel 24 I use a wooden or metal panel 24:. This is attached at its upper end to the lower edge of beam 21 in any suitable manner but preferably it is hinged, as illustrated in Figure 8. In this case the beam 21 is provided with a plurality of hinges, designated generally 37. these 1 hinges each being formed of a single length of wire angularly bent to extend through the beam 21 and upon the inner face of the beam extending downward and then outward, as at 38, these downwardly and out wardly extending portions being joined by a cross bar 39. The wooden or metal panel 24 has bolted to its outer face a reinforcing strip 40, and attached to this reinforcing strip by bolts is a wire hinge member 41 preferably formed of a single length of wire which extends through the two thicknesses 241 and 40, then extends upward and inward to form a bight portion 42 through which the cross bar 39 passes. of wire then extends straight downward parallel to the outer face of the strip 46 and then is outwardly and downwardly deflected to form a bight portion 43, then extends upward and rearward through the two thicknesses and 24*, there being nuts on the ends of these inwardly extending portions of the wire. By this means a slotted hinge is formed which allows the beam 21 to fold downward on the face of the The length 1 portion 245*, or in other words allows the cross bar 39 to pass down to the bight 43.

This permits a greater height of from 8 to 10 inches to be given where a wooden or sheet metal panel is used instead of canvas. The apron 23 is supported by means of a brace 44;, as illustrated in Figure 8. Of course, it will be understood that whether the wooden panel or the fabric panel be used, the device will operate in exactly the same manner.

Vith this construction it is possible to gradually raise the beam 16 and, therefore, raise the panel which forms the side of the barge from a fully lowered position to a fully raised position by lifting the beams and inserting the bolts 28 in any one of the openings 30 in the vertical members 12, or the panel may be manually raised and the beam 23 seated in the recess upon the shoulders 15 and the header or elevator will then discharge over the apron into the barge. Then when it is desired to discharge the barge, the side may be lowered gradually as the load is discharged until eventually the panel 24 or 24 is entirely lowered, thus making it very easy to discharge the barge.

It will be understood that this invention may be applied to hay racks as well as header barges and I do not wish to be limited, therefore, to a header barge. The construction constitutes in effect a rack whether it is used as a header barge or simply used for receiving and transporting hay and like crops. A barge or rack constructed as described may be loaded and unloaded easier than the ordinary barge or rack. It has a relatively large capacity and the apron 23 bridges the gap between the stack and the barge and prevents wheat from falling on the ground. The barge, it will be seen, may be used with a header or may be separately transported and used as a hay rack. This construction also permits the rack to be built tight, preventing waste of fine forage or straw. This attachment furthermore braces the front end of the rack.

lVhile I do not wish to be limited to the use of a canvas or like panel, I believe this to be the preferable form of my invention. This invention makes it possible to haul from 50% to bigger loads than is possible with an ordinary header barge, thus saving time by reducing the necessity of changing barges constantly.

I claim 1. A rack of the character described comprising a body having a floor, oppositely disposed side walls and end frames, one of said side walls being vertically movable, beams pivoted at their inner ends to the body and at their outer ends operatively attached to and carrying the movable side wall, and springs connected to said end frames and to said beams and normally acting to resist the downward movement of the beams and the side wall from a raised position.

2. A rack of the character described comprising a body having a floor, oppositely disposed side walls and end frames, one of said side walls being vertically movable, beams pivoted at their inner ends to the body and at their outer ends operatively attached to and carrying the movable side wall, and springs connected to said end frames and to said beams and normally acting to resist the downward movement of the beams and the side wall from a raised position, there being means whereby the tension of the springs may be adjusted.

3. A rack of the character described comprising a body having a floor, a side wall, vertical members attached to the floor opposite the side wall, end frames and a vertically movable side wall coacting with said vertical members, the vertical members being recessed at their upper ends to form a seat and the side wall including a longitudinally extending beam adapted to rest in said seat, and means for holding the side wall raised, said means permitting the lowering of the side wall.

4. A rack of the character described comprising a body having a floor, a side, wall extending upward on one side of the floor, vertical members extending upward on the opposite side of the floor, the vertical members having recesses at their upper ends to form seats, end frames, a longitudinally extending beam adapted to rest upon said seats, a side wall attached to said beam, the beam and side wall being vertically movable, downwardly inclined beams attached at their outer ends to said longitudinal beam, the inner ends of the inclined beams being longitudinally slotted, pivot bolts passing through said slots and through the end frames whereby said beams may be shifted longitudinally a little distance and oscillated upon their pivots, and means for detachably locking the longitudinal beam in place on said seat.

5. A rack of the character described comprising a body having a floor, an upwardly extending side wall at one side of the floor, end frames attached to the floor and wall, vertical members attached to the floor and extending upward parallel to the side wall, the upper ends of the vertical members being recessed to form seats, beams mounted upon the end frame at the inner ends for oscillation and for longitudinal movement, a longitudinal beam carried upon said end frames and adapted to rest upon said seats, an apron carried by the longitudinal beam, a side wall carried by the beam and vertically movable therewith, and means for locking the beams in their raised position.

6. In a rack of the character described, a body having a floor, a side wall and end frames, vertical members extending upward from the floor opposite to and parallel to the side wall and recessed at their upper ends to form seats, a beam normally disposed on said seats, a flexible panel attached to the floor at its lower edge and at its upper edge attached to said beam, and means for detachably holding the beam in said seats.

7 In a rack of the character described, a body having a floor, a side wall and end frames, vertical members extending upward from the floor opposite to and parallel to the side wall and recessed at their upper ends to form seats, a beam normally disposed on said seats, a flexible panel attached to the floor at its lower edge and at its upper edge attached to said beam, beams pivoted at their rear ends to the end frames and having longitudinal movement, to which the longitudinal beam is attached, and means for detachably locking said pivoted beams and the longitudinal beam in their raised positions.

8. In a rack of the character described, a body having a floor, a side wall and end frames, vertical members extending upward from the floor opposite to and parallel to the side wall and recessed at their upper ends to form seats, a beam normally disposed on said seats, a flexible panel attached to the floor at its lower edge and at its upper edge attached to said beam, beams pivoted at their rear ends to the end frames and having longitudinal movement, to which the longitudinal beam is attached, and springs engaging the end frames and the pivoted beams and resisting downward movement of said pivoted beams and the longitudinal beam.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

HENRY ALBERT. 

